In coming up with its plan to sell all-electric sports cars, the top brass at Tesla Motors may not have planned for the current amount of market competition. That’s what analysts at Edmunds are saying, as investors worry about possible future price drops in the company’s stock. As of today, TSLA is trading right in the middle of its 52 week range, at about 27 dollars a share. Now that the post-IPO lock-in period is over, it remains to be seen what will happen to Tesla’s share price, and whether the company will continue forward as a front-runner in electric car design.
The plain reality, from the vantage point of the middle of 2011, is that many traditional auto makers, here in America and abroad, are focusing on electric car models for the future. Consider, for example, the Honda FC Sport, unveiled in 2008 as a concept car for a future market. Or just look at the array of all-electric cars coming onto the market in recent years, like the electric version of the Ford Focus, slated for 2012, or the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf. Not only are manufacturers making electric cars, but they’re starting to make them in all sorts of designs, from the hum-drum utility car to the sporty roadster.
For the consumer, the blossoming of all-electric options on the market means more flexibility for those who want to get a specific kind of plug-in car. Look for these new models to provide choices in pricing, features, and build, and a greater measure of control for the electric car customer of the future. Meanwhile, customers can often find affordable pre-owned hybrids, diesels or other fuel-efficient cars to help bring down their own fuel costs on the road.